HARARE (AFP) – Zimbabwe on Wednesday opened the first sale of diamonds from its Marange fields since international regulators partially lifted a ban imposed after the military violently seized control of the mines.

About 900,000 carats valued at about 72 million US dollars were on sale, according to Abbey Chikane, the monitor from the international Kimberley Process which is charged with preventing trade in “blood diamonds”.
Buyers from the United States, Israel, Russia, Lebanon and India were at the auction at Harare's airport, some with pilots waiting to jet them out of the country afterwards.
Kimberley last month ruled that Zimbabwe had ceased abuses by the military, which seized control of the Marange fields in late 2008, forcing out tens of thousands of small-scale miners.
Human rights groups say about 200 people died in the operation, and that soldiers then beat and raped villagers to force them to mine the gems in early 2009.
Kimberley blocked the sale of Marange diamonds in November last year, giving Zimbabwe until June to clean up its operations.